Guanín (bronze)
Encyclopedia
It is a common misconception that pre-Columbian Americas lacked bronze
and thus were not able to deploy hardened copper
alloy
s. However, copper alloys are reported as ‘guanín’ by Columbus, a loan word borrowed from the Taino
http://www.doaks.org/GoldandPower/GoldandPower10.pdf. This misconception may well arise because tin
, the common component of Eurasian bronze (although common in Bolivia
), is rare in the Caribbean
basin.
However, copper
, iron
, manganese
, nickel
, chromium
, and cobalt
and zinc
, copper and manganese mixed into a matrix of iron sulfide
s and other metal sulfide
s gold, cobalt, nickel, etc are readily available, often glittering in as natural ores such as pyrite
, fools gold, the brassy golden yellow cubanite
, marcasite
etc on the surfaces of the formerly submerged karst
rock formations of these islands.
Thus guanín is likely a manganese bronze
. Today US “gold dollars” are made of a probably similar alloy 88.5 % copper, 6% zinc, 3.5% manganese, and 2% nickel http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/copper/240499.pdf. However, nickel has a melting temperature well above that produced by even a bellowed kiln (and bellows were probably first employed some time after 300 BC in China) so it would be rather unlikely that guanin would have contained nickel.
Columbus’s report of metal axes in lands and seas of the Caribbean, although viewed skeptically by some, cannot be readily dismissed http://www.newworldexplorersinc.org/MayaSeafarers.pdf. In this afore cited article, authors attribute this bronze to the Mayans. One might bear in mind the Mayans were trading contacts with the Taínos who used the word guanín to describe the copper alloys they used for ornamental and religious purposes. Additionally there were readily available natural deposits of the necessary ores (see above) in the Major Antilles. The existence of pre-Columbian
metal tools in the Americas is now considered academic and historical "fact" http://www.doaks.org/precolcollection.html, although the question remains as to which ethnicities, nations or civilizations used these objects. Thus classification of Taíno technological progress as merely Neolithic
may well be an misinterpretation awaiting archeological resolution of Taíno use of guanín alloy tools.
Richard Hakluyt
(Hakluyt, 1909) reported (circa 1592) that there were different (non-Taíno, presumable Carib) names for gold (calcouri), silver (perota), iron (mointiman) and copper oxide
ores (tacorao) in the Caribbean island of Trinidad
, off the coast of Venezuela
, proving metallurgical knowledge amongst these islanders.
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
and thus were not able to deploy hardened copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
alloy
Alloy
An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...
s. However, copper alloys are reported as ‘guanín’ by Columbus, a loan word borrowed from the Taino
Taíno people
The Taínos were pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. It is thought that the seafaring Taínos are relatives of the Arawak people of South America...
http://www.doaks.org/GoldandPower/GoldandPower10.pdf. This misconception may well arise because tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
, the common component of Eurasian bronze (although common in Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
), is rare in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
basin.
However, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
, manganese
Manganese
Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
, nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...
, chromium
Chromium
Chromium is a chemical element which has the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6. It is a steely-gray, lustrous, hard metal that takes a high polish and has a high melting point. It is also odorless, tasteless, and malleable...
, and cobalt
Cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....
and zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
, copper and manganese mixed into a matrix of iron sulfide
Iron sulfide
Iron sulfide or Iron sulphide refers to a chemical compound of iron and sulfur with a wide range of stoechiometric formulae and different crystalline structures.-Natural minerals:By increasing order of stability:...
s and other metal sulfide
Sulfide
A sulfide is an anion of sulfur in its lowest oxidation state of 2-. Sulfide is also a slightly archaic term for thioethers, a common type of organosulfur compound that are well known for their bad odors.- Properties :...
s gold, cobalt, nickel, etc are readily available, often glittering in as natural ores such as pyrite
Pyrite
The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is an iron sulfide with the formula FeS2. This mineral's metallic luster and pale-to-normal, brass-yellow hue have earned it the nickname fool's gold because of its resemblance to gold...
, fools gold, the brassy golden yellow cubanite
Cubanite
Cubanite is a yellow mineral of copper, iron, and sulfur, CuFe2S3.Cubanite was first described in 1843 for an occurrence in the Mayarí-Baracoa Belt, Oriente Province, Cuba....
, marcasite
Marcasite
The mineral marcasite, sometimes called white iron pyrite, is iron sulfide with orthorhombic crystal structure. It is physically and crystallographically distinct from pyrite, which is iron sulfide with cubic crystal structure. Both structures do have in common that they contain the disulfide...
etc on the surfaces of the formerly submerged karst
KARST
Kilometer-square Area Radio Synthesis Telescope is a Chinese telescope project to which FAST is a forerunner. KARST is a set of large spherical reflectors on karst landforms, which are bowlshaped limestone sinkholes named after the Kras region in Slovenia and Northern Italy. It will consist of...
rock formations of these islands.
Thus guanín is likely a manganese bronze
Manganese Bronze
Manganese Bronze Holdings PLC is an engineering company based in Coventry, England. Since the sale of its components division in 2003 the company has only one operating division—LTI Limited, trading as The London Taxi Company—which manufactures and retails London Black Taxis.The London...
. Today US “gold dollars” are made of a probably similar alloy 88.5 % copper, 6% zinc, 3.5% manganese, and 2% nickel http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/copper/240499.pdf. However, nickel has a melting temperature well above that produced by even a bellowed kiln (and bellows were probably first employed some time after 300 BC in China) so it would be rather unlikely that guanin would have contained nickel.
Columbus’s report of metal axes in lands and seas of the Caribbean, although viewed skeptically by some, cannot be readily dismissed http://www.newworldexplorersinc.org/MayaSeafarers.pdf. In this afore cited article, authors attribute this bronze to the Mayans. One might bear in mind the Mayans were trading contacts with the Taínos who used the word guanín to describe the copper alloys they used for ornamental and religious purposes. Additionally there were readily available natural deposits of the necessary ores (see above) in the Major Antilles. The existence of pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
metal tools in the Americas is now considered academic and historical "fact" http://www.doaks.org/precolcollection.html, although the question remains as to which ethnicities, nations or civilizations used these objects. Thus classification of Taíno technological progress as merely Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
may well be an misinterpretation awaiting archeological resolution of Taíno use of guanín alloy tools.
Richard Hakluyt
Richard Hakluyt
Richard Hakluyt was an English writer. He is principally remembered for his efforts in promoting and supporting the settlement of North America by the English through his works, notably Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America and The Principal Navigations, Voiages, Traffiques and...
(Hakluyt, 1909) reported (circa 1592) that there were different (non-Taíno, presumable Carib) names for gold (calcouri), silver (perota), iron (mointiman) and copper oxide
Copper oxide
Copper oxide is a compound from the two elements copper and oxygen.Copper oxide may refer to:*Copper oxide , a red powder;*Copper oxide , a black powder...
ores (tacorao) in the Caribbean island of Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
, off the coast of Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, proving metallurgical knowledge amongst these islanders.